Two Weeks
by RazzAppleMagic
Summary: After a heated fight with Roy, Ed is killed in an accident. Distraught and guilt-stricken, Roy begs for a chance to do it all over again. When the universe grants his wish, Roy gets two weeks to fix the mistakes that lead to Ed's death. But will it be enough to save Ed from the accident? Will it be enough to save Roy from himself? Set in a NYC AU. RoyEd, Yaoi, Angst
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone! This is the first chapter of a fic that's going to to probably be about 15-20 chapters, so if you're looking for a nice and long EdRoy piece, you've got it right here! I'm hoping to be able to update this about once or twice a month. This fic takes place in a modern day New York City AU.

Just a few warnings here: SLIGHT major character death. I say "slight" because, well, you'll see. Or you could just read the description of the fic which tells you the the basic premise I'm workin' with here. Also, this fic is going to deal with consent a little bit, so if that makes you uncomfortable, I completely understand and I will make sure to put warnings at the start of the chapter(s) that deal with it.

I hope you guys enjoy! Also, reviews are GREATLY appreciated, they help me write more and let me know what I can approve of/add more of!

Rated M for language and content.

* * *

Chapter 1

The cold winter air brushed Ed's face as he pushed open the door of the yellow New York taxi. The familiar sound of whooshing cars speeding down the street and angry car horns filled his ears and he knew that he was home. Ed thanked the distracted taxi driver, picked up the bouquet of roses beside him, and stepped out onto the wet sidewalk, his luggage in tow behind him. A glance at his watch told Ed that it was a little bit after 8pm, which meant that he was still early.

Ed pushed through the revolving doors of his Lexington Avenue apartment building and was relieved to see the familiar face of one of his friendlier doormen.

"You're home early Mr. Elric!" The grey haired man waved kindly from behind the desk.

"Yeah I thought I'd surprise you-know-who and show up a day before schedule." Ed said happily. He raised the flowers into the air. "These are because I'm such a great boyfriend. I couldn't show up unexpectedly _and_ empty handed could I, Roa?"

Roa the doorman's laughter boomed in the silence of the lobby. "You guys give me hope that there's still someone out there who will care about me like that! You guys are one of the best couples that I've ever met."

Ed walked to the elevator and pushed the "up" button. "Stop it you're going to embarrass me." Ed felt his face turning red from the flattery.

"In front of who? There's no one here!" Roa let out another booming laugh.

"In front of me!" Ed pushed the "up" button again. This thing was taking forever. Ed needed to change the subject before Roa started asking about babies or something.

Luckily, he didn't need to. There was a light "bing" and the golden elevator doors opened for Ed to step in. He jammed his finger on the button marked with the number "12".

"Have a good night Mr. Elric!" Roa called from behind the desk with a friendly wave.

"Thanks! You too!" Ed called back. "Oh wait – did you get he wedding invite?" Ed asked, reaching out his hand to stop the closing doors.

"It came in the mail this morning!"

"Can we expect you?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Ed let the elevator doors close and began his short decent to the 12th floor. He thought about how great it was to have a doorman like Roa – someone that he got along with well enough to invite to his wedding.

 _His Wedding_.

Ed looked down at his left hand and stared intently at the platinum band on his wedding finger. Was he really getting married in a few months? Just the thought was crazy.

The elevator doors opened on the 12th floor and Ed stepped quietly into the carpeted hallway. He turned to his right and made the short familiar walk to apartment C. Ed wasn't surprised to find the door unlocked. It was 8pm on a Sunday, and Roy wasn't going anywhere on his day off. No, the unlocked door didn't at all surprise him. He was however, very surprised to be met with a dark apartment.

Ed flicked on the light switch by the door and the kitchen lit up. It was strange for all of the lights to be off when Roy was home. Unless he wasn't, in which case Ed was going to have to have a very heated discussion with him about the importance of keeping doors locked in New York City.

Ed let the door close behind him and wheeled his suitcase into the dark living room. He suspected that he'd find Roy napping on the couch, but even in the darkness he could tell that the couch was empty. Ed sat down and reached over to turn the tableside lamp on.

The room filled with light and Ed noticed something suspicious on the coffee table. Wine glasses. _Two_ wine glasses.

He got nervous, but not immediately. His first instinct said "Oh, Roy didn't mention that he was having Riza over tonight." He didn't get nervous until he inspected the glasses more closely. There was lipstick on the rim of one of them. _Bubblegum pink lipstick._

And if Ed knew one thing about Riza Hawkeye, it was that Riza _never_ wore pink lipstick. And if she did, it sure as hell wouldn't be bubblegum pink.

Ed felt like his heart was in his throat. It was now that he heard it clearly – the soft moaning of a woman's voice coming from his bedroom. Why hadn't he noticed it when he walked in? Maybe he just wasn't listening for it. How could he be so stupid?

As he walked down the hallway there was a surreal ringing in his ears, _this was a dream. This had to be a dream._ When he got to his bedroom door the sounds of the moaning drowned out the ringing. It was as if he suddenly gained the ability to hear extremely well. He heard every sigh, every moan. He heard the sounds of his fiancé's skin rubbing against the other person; he heard the soft squeak of the mattress. Ed placed his hand on the doorknob and pushed it open.

As prepared as he thought he was for what he was about to face, Ed still found himself unable to move at the scene that presented itself once the door was open. Roy was deep inside of a woman – a familiar woman; the woman that lived in the apartment above theirs – Rose. She noticed Ed before Roy did and let out a loud gasp and an exasperated _"Edward!"_

"W-what? Ed?" Roy turned around and pulled out immediately when he saw Ed standing in the doorway. But it was too late.

Ed dropped the bouquet of flowers to the floor where they landed with a soft _crunch_. How his legs were able to move Ed did not know; he assumed that it was probably adrenaline. He was halfway through the hallway when Roy's hand closed around his arm.

"Ed!" Roy's voice was frantic and his grip was tight. "Ed, wait!"

Ed stopped walking, turned, and delivered a hard punch to the side of Roy's face. Roy released his grip and moved his hand instead to his (now swollen) jaw. But still, he pressed on:

"Ed! Don't go, please, Ed!"

"What the fuck is wrong with you!?" Ed tried to shout, but for some reason his voice wasn't working so it came out sounding like a whisper. He took a second to take in what he was looking at. Roy was standing in front of him, his hair untidy, in his boxers. He looked pathetic. On his neck were a few light bruises and bite marks that made Ed want to vomit.

"I know. I know what you're thinking. But please, just talk to me. Just talk to me." Roy looked desperate. He reached out and grabbed Ed by the shoulders as if to hold him from running away. "Baby, please."

"Don't fucking call me that." Ed struggled to get away. "Get the fuck out of my face." Trying to avoid looking at his betrayer, the blonde averted his gaze to look down the hallway. This didn't help, because he saw Rose's face peering down the hall from his bedroom doorway. For some reason, it was this that broke him. Ed's eyes stung as the hot tears broke free and leaked down his face. He felt his body tremble with soft sobs.

Roy seemed to realize what triggered the tears, because he turned and shouted: "Go, Rose. Get out."

Rose made her way awkwardly down the hallway, pulling on her shirt as she shimmied past the struggling couple. The pink hue in her face almost matched the pink dye in her bangs perfectly. "Sorry Ed…" She mumbled as she made her way to the front of the apartment. No one said anything until they heard the apartment door close.

"Ed…" Roy let go of Ed's shoulders, and sunk to his knees. "Ed I'm so sorry."

Ed didn't say anything. He was in shock. His body shook violently with silent sobs and his heart slammed against his chest like a sledgehammer. He couldn't feel anything, and yet he felt like every part of his body was crying out in pain. He leaned against the wall in the hallway, his face hitting the cool glass of one of the picture frames. He opened his eyes and stared at the picture that he was leaning against, which only made him feel worse.

It was a picture of Roy and Ed at Coney Island. It was taken over the summer, shortly after they had gotten engaged. Ed was smiling widely, and Roy was grinning as if he had just said something sarcastic. Roy's arm was wrapped tightly around Ed and the orange glow of the "Wonder Wheel" was shining brightly behind them. It was a good memory, a happy one.

Ed ripped the frame from the wall and threw it down the hallway where he heard it land with a shattering crash. Roy had thrown away everything. All of the happy memories that they had together were gone, and there was no way of ever getting them back.

"Was it worth it?" Ed said finally, staring down at a defeated looking Roy.

"W-wha?"

"Was – was _she_ worth it?" the blonde growled, his eyes narrowing coldly.

"Ed…"

"Was she worth throwing away three years of a relationship? Our wedding? Was she fucking worth it Roy? I seriously want to know!"

Roy ran both hands through his hair and looked up at Ed with tears shining in his dark eyes.

"Ed, fuck. Fuck, I didn't think. I wasn't thinking. I fucked up."

"No shit you fucked up." Ed turned and walked towards the kitchen. Roy got to his feet and followed closely behind.

"Ed, just listen to me, please. Ed…"

"You keep saying to listen to you. I'm listening, but you're just saying the same stupid shit." Ed said irritably, stopping at the kitchen table.

Roy took a deep breath. "I thought that you weren't coming home for two more days…"

"And why does that matter? I wouldn't have caught you if I had come home on time?" Ed couldn't believe the absolute shit that was spewing from Roy's mouth.

"No. No. Ed, look, I know that I fucked up. Rose just came over and brought wine… she said that it was an engagement present…"

"So you fucked her?"

"No. Well, yes. But no! No, that's not what happened. She just, she wouldn't take no for an answer."

"So you're the victim? I can't believe that you're playing this card after you _know_ what happened to me—" Ed felt the sobs starting up again. His speech was becoming slurred. "You have some nerve, you know that?"

"Oh god, Ed, I'm sorry." Roy reached out to hold Ed, but Ed pushed him away. "Ed, I know that this is a mess. But we can get through this. Do you really want to throw away our engagement because of this?"

Ed looked like he was going to break something. "I _did not_ throw our engagement away." He said, sliding off the ring on his left hand. " _You_ threw it away when you put your dick into Rose." Ed threw the ring at Roy's face. It bounced off and rolled into the kitchen.

"If you didn't want to be with me you could have just said so. You could have told me from the beginning. You could have told me that, instead of sending me on this fucking business trip." Ed was shouting now, he was slowly but surely coming out of the shock of what happened, and he could feel is hot-headed tempter start to surface. "Is that why you were so insistent? Because you wanted to fuck Rose?" He ignored Roy's attempts to speak. "This is because I'm a guy isn't it? You just have such a fucking hard time with admitting that you're with a guy, admitting that you're gay! Is this some sort of fucking testosterone thing?"

"That has nothing to do with it!" Roy shouted back, his temper clearly also rising. "Do you think that I would have bought this apartment with you if I had a problem admitting that I was gay? Do you think that I would have proposed if I had a hard time admitting that I was in love with a man? I'm over that! I've been over that. You know that."

"I'm going to Al's." Ed said firmly. He walked into the living room to grab his suitcase.

"Ed, please don't go. Don't leave me. I love you." Roy was standing in front of the door. "I love you."

"Roy. If you love me, you'll let me go. I can't stay here tonight. Not after this. I can't." Ed locked eyes with Roy. He had to leave. He was going to leave. Roy could choose to make this easy or difficult.

"Call me tomorrow." Roy demanded.

"Maybe." Ed promised, taking a step towards the door.

"Ed, call me tomorrow. We can work this out."

"I seriously doubt that. Step aside Mustang." That did it. Ed hadn't called Roy "Mustang" in years. Roy knew that Ed was completely serious. Slowly, Roy stepped aside.

"I love you Ed."

"Yeah. Good luck with that." Ed walked out and slammed the door behind him. His heartbeat was deafening. He felt like he was going to throw up. The trip to the lobby was a blur, and Ed didn't even hear Roa asking him if he was okay. Ed was just determined to get as far away from the apartment as possible. He wasn't paying attention to anything. He wasn't paying attention to the rain and snow that was falling hard around him. He wasn't paying attention to the people screaming for him to get out of the way. And he certainly wasn't paying attention when the speeding car knocked him 20 feet into the air.


	2. Chapter 2: Heartbreak

**Hey guys! Here is chapter 2! Reviews are appreciated, they are helpful and give me warm and fuzzies! I hope that you enjoy!**

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 _I woke up this morning_

 _And I heard the news_

 _I know the pain of a heartbreak._

 _I don't have answers_

 _And neither do you_

 _I know the pain of a heartbreak._

 _It isn't easy, it isn't clear._

 _And you don't need Jesus_

 _Til you're here._

 _The confusion and the doubt you had_

 _Up and walk away, they walk away._

 _When a heart breaks._

 _-Ben Rector, "When a Heart Breaks"_

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Chapter 2

Roy was annoyed when he heard the ear-splitting sound of his phone ringing beside him, waking him up once he had finally been able to fall asleep. He was even more annoyed when he saw the red numbers on the alarm clock telling him that it was 2:30 in the morning. With a loud groan, Roy reached over and slid the bar on his phone to the right.

"Hello?" Roy was absolutely sure that the voice that would be greeting him on the other line would be the voice of his justifiably pissed off fiancé. After all, Roy could think of no other person who would be dumb enough to wake him up so late at night.

"Uh, yes…Hello…I'm calling from the Bellevue Hospital Center on 26th and 1st, is this Roy Mustang?" The voice on the other line was unexpected. It was a woman, who by the sound of it was having a very hectic day.

"Oh," Roy instinctively reached for the lamp on the bedside table and flicked it on. The room filled with an excruciatingly bright light that caused Roy to rub his eyes in frustration. "This is Roy Mustang."

 _Wait. Did she say she was calling from the hospital?_

In a matter of seconds, Roy went from languid and tired to wide awake and alert. What happened? His heart was hammering hard against his chest and the seconds that it took for the squeaky-voiced woman on the other end of the phone to answer felt like an eternity.

"Hello, Mr. Mustang. We have you listed as one of the emergency contacts for Edward Elric. I'm afraid that there's been an accident, and I'm going to need you to get to the hospital right away. We've already spoken with his other two emergency contacts, and they're on their way."

Roy stopped breathing. An accident? What kind of accident?

"Is Ed okay?" Roy heard the tremor in his voice, the unmistakable sound of fear and dread. He jumped to his feet and grabbed the closest pieces of clothing he could find – a dirty shirt, a pair of pants…

"I'm afraid that the only information that I've been given is that he's in critical condition. You should try to get here as soon as possible."

"I'm on my way."

Adrenaline is a powerful hormone. Within minutes of hanging up the phone, Roy Mustang was throwing money at the disgruntled cab driver and racing into the glass doors of the Bellevue Hospital Center.

"Hello, how can I help you?" The woman behind the desk was smiling. In his frantic state, Roy couldn't help but wonder how she could be smiling at a time like this.

"My name is Roy Mustang and I'm here to see Edward Elric!" Roy's ears were ringing and he felt like his head was on fire. He needed to see Ed. He needed to see Ed right now.

"Ah, do you know what floor he's on?" The woman responded politely, seemingly oblivious to Roy's urgency.

"What?" Roy felt his temper starting to rise. _He needed to see Ed._ "I have no fucking clue! I just got a call saying that my fiancé was here because he was in an accident! I have no fucking idea what floor he's on!" The uncharacteristic behavior that Roy was exhibiting was frightening even to him; he was normally the calm one.

"Excuse me sir, there's no need to be so rude." She picked up a phone on her desk and dialed a number. "Have a seat, I'll let you know once I find out the situation on your fiancé. Elrid, you said?"

"Elric! Edward Elric!" If Roy didn't find out what was going on soon, he was going to need a doctor himself. He felt like he was going to vomit. He couldn't breathe.

" _Roy!"_ a familiar voice greeted him from behind, and Roy turned to see Winry running towards him, her eyes red and wet. "Roy! You're here! Thank god!"

Roy never thought that he'd ever feel so relieved to see the young mechanic. He caught her as she flung herself into his arms and kissed the top of her head.

"What's going on?" He choked out softly. His heart was beating out of his chest, his eyes were burning. Winry had a history of crying about things that weren't a big deal, but she had _never_ hugged Roy. Things had to be bad.

"Ed was in a car accident. Hit by a drunk driver…I guess the car slid on some ice or something…" Her words were muffled and shaky, but Roy knew that he hadn't misheard her.

"Is…" The question was on the tip on his tongue, but he hesitated to ask. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer. "Is he okay?"

The sob that escaped Winry's mouth was almost inhuman. She tightened her grip on Roy's back and dug her nails painfully into his skin. And then, without another sound, with barely any movement, Roy felt her shake her head.

 _No._

"Where is he?"

"They just brought him in for emergency surgery. The doctor told Al to start making arrangements…" As though she had just remembered that she left the oven on at home, Winry let out a loud gasp. "Al! We have to get to him! I left to get him a bottle of water – he's all alone!"

Winry lead Roy through the hospital and into a small, quiet waiting area. Al was sitting in a plastic chair in the corner of the room, his head in his hands. There was a flat screen TV on the wall in the waiting room, the weather man was advising New Yorkers to prepare for a nasty snow storm that would likely limit transportation to and from all areas of New York City.

"Al, I'm sorry it took so long. I ran into Roy." The blonde mechanic sprinted to where Al was sitting and knelt down on the dirty white title. She reached into her leather purse and pulled out a bottle of water, which she handed to her broken boyfriend.

Al accepted the water and looked up at Roy. Their eyes met and Roy knew that if there was anyone else in the world who would be destroyed if anything happened to Ed, it was his brother Al. The dirty blonde's hazel eyes were bloodshot and his cheeks were flushed.

"I.." Al spoke slowly, stopping to swallow and breathe before he went on, "I thought he wasn't supposed to be home for two more days…"

The guilt hit Roy like a tidal wave. _This was his fault_.

"Yeah…he came home early to surprise me…" Roy sank down in the chair next to Al. "We uh," He rubbed his eyes. "We got into a fight… He left…" There was an unmistakable quivering in his voice as he struggled to say what was weighing on his mind since the moment he got the phone call, "This is my fault."

The silence in the room was almost tangible. Roy wasn't sure if they thought that he was right, that they did think that it was his fault, or of they just didn't know how to console him while dealing with their own guilt and grief.

The silence was broken only by the sound of Al's name being called by a doctor. The doctor's scrubs were bloodstained. Were those bloodstains from Ed? The grim-looking doctor motioned for Al to come over and Al stood up and walked silently in that direction.

Roy couldn't hear anything that Al or the doctor was say saying. He saw the doctor explaining something. He saw the doctor point over to Roy and Al nod. He saw the doctor say something to Al and shake his head slowly. He watched as the doctor put a consoling hand on Al's shoulder and felt his heart break in half as Al slid to his knees and covered his mouth.

 _No. This couldn't be happening._

The doctor made his way over to Roy and Winry. The ringing in Roy's ears was so loud that Roy wasn't even sure if he'd be able to hear what the doctor had to say.

The doctor looked worn down. He had black hair and glasses, and the five-o-clock shadow told Roy that he was probably on the 6th or 7th hour of his overnight shift.

"Hello, my name is Doctor Knox, I'm the head surgeon on duty." The doctor's face was grim, his voice low. "I'm sorry to have to tell you that Edward Elric did not survive the surgery. We did all we could, but the damage from the accident was too severe."

"Ed is…" Winry sounded like all of the air in her lungs had disappeared; "dead?" the last word was barely a whisper.

"I'm afraid so. You can talk to the woman at the desk about how to make arrangements. I'm sorry for your loss."

 _I'm sorry for your loss._

Roy wondered how many times Dr. Knox had needed to say that. He imagined that the Dr. Knox that said it for the first time had probably done so with tears in his eyes and a heavy heart. The Dr. Knox that told them tonight had clearly built up a tolerance. A script. Dr. Knox had seen hell that Roy could hardly imagine.

Roy didn't know what to do. Everything in his brain had shut down. He was in complete shock. Ed was dead. He was dead and was never coming back. Roy lost control of his legs and collapsed once again into one of the plastic hospital chairs. The ringing in his ears wouldn't stop. His heart wouldn't get out of his throat. His world was crashing down around him and the pieces were being scattered across the linoleum floor.

Roy felt a comforting arm wrap around his shoulder, and looked over to see that Al had gotten up and walked over to where he was sitting. Al was looking at Roy with and expression that made his heart break even more. After a car accident took Ed and Al's mom when they were children, they were the only thing they had left. The two of them did absolutely everything together. They shared a bond unlike any that Roy had ever seen.

"It's not your fault." The words left Al's lips and Roy felt his eyes starting to burn. He felt the sobs start to shake in his body. He felt himself breaking down. Al didn't know how wrong he was.

* * *

Roy woke up to a knock on his bedroom door. He groaned loudly and rolled over in bed. Waking up had been the hardest part of being alive.

The door opened and the familiar, stern face of his best friend came into view.

"Roy, it's time to wake up." The blonde spoke assertively; Riza Hawkeye seemed to carry a sense of purpose with her everywhere she went. She walked over to the window and pulled back the dark curtains, filling the room with blinding light.

Roy groaned again in protest and massaged his aching temples. His head was throbbing in post-intoxication agony. What time had he finally managed to fall asleep last night? And how much had he had to drink?

Roy heard the clinking sound of bottles being picked up and turned to see Hawkeye picking up the various empty bottles that were scattered on his bedroom floor.

"Jesus Roy, how much did you have to drink? I just cleaned these up yesterday. You need to stop." She tossed the bottles into the garbage can in Roy's bedroom. "You drank an entire bottle of Jack Daniels?" She said in disgust as she discovered another bottle on Roy's dresser. "How are you not dead?"

"It helps." Roy admitted, pulling himself up.

"It doesn't help. It numbs. I'm not going to let you keep doing this to yourself, I was tolerant until today because I know how hard it's been, but after tonight it stops." She was opening Roy's drawers and pulling out articles of clothing. "I bought you coffee and hash browns, they're in the kitchen." She opened Roy's closet door and stepped inside.

Today was the day. Today was the funeral. The past few days were all a blur in Roy's mind. Sure, Roy was alive, but Roy wasn't really living. Food had no taste. He couldn't sleep. His world had stopped the night of the accident. He had lost everything.

Hawkeye stepped out of the closet holding one of Roy's black suits. She carried it into the bedroom's bathroom and Roy heard the shower turn on. She returned holding a towel.

"Let's go. Get in the shower."

Roy was monumentally grateful to have a friend like Riza Hawkeye. He probably wouldn't be alive if it hadn't been for her undying and unwavering support through this whole thing. Even as he drunkenly confessed to her the sins of the night that it all happened – when he told her about Rose, about the lies, about the fight. She never once left his side. She held him as he cried, cleaned his vomit from the bathroom floor…she was there for him, and he would never be able to repay her.

Roy dragged himself out of bed and took the towel from his friend. "Thanks." He said weakly, and walked into the bathroom.

Deciding to brush his teeth first, he walked over to the sink and reached for his toothbrush. He felt his heart sink even further than it already had. In the small glass cup that sat on the corner of his bathroom sink were two toothbrushes – a red one and a blue one. Roy picked up the red toothbrush as though it were made of glass and felt his eyes start to burn. No one would ever use this toothbrush again.

He was overcome with grief so powerful that he could barely stand. He fell blindly into the shower while still wearing his boxers and began to weep. He remembered brushing his teeth in the mornings with Ed beside him, he remembered Ed's anger when he had brought home citrus toothpaste instead of mint. He remembered all of the little things – the little things that were gone now. He wasn't sure how long he sat there on the floor of the shower holding the toothbrush desperately to his chest, but before he knew it Hawkeye was knocking on the door to tell him that he needed to hurry up. He finished his shower and placed the toothbrush in the lowest drawer under the sink. He had no use for it anymore. No one did. No one ever would again.

The funeral was long and painful. Ed was buried in a plot next to his mother in upstate New York where he grew up. Roy numbly accepted the tear-filled hugs of people he had never met as they told him that they were sorry that Roy had to go through the pain of losing a lover. But Ed was more than that. Ed was Roy's best friend - the only person in the world who knew him. They were planning to spend their lives together and now…well, now it was all over. What was the point of going on with life?

Al gave a beautiful speech and Roy held Winry as she sobbed. Ed's father even showed up – a man who Roy had only met once before. Roy smiled to himself at the thought of how angry Ed would be if he knew that his father had turned up at his funeral.

" _Who does that bastard think he is?"_ He'd say. Roy could almost hear him.

After the funeral, everyone went to Winry's grandmother's house to reminisce about good times and cry about all of the things that Ed would never get to do. Roy coped with this by drinking heavily the entire time. Plans were made to spend the night, and one by one everyone fell asleep – leaving the terrible day behind them. For everyone else, the world would keep on turning. Even for Al, who was taking this just as hard as Roy, had something to live for. But not Roy. He had nothing. He couldn't sleep, and in his drunken state he decided to go for a walk. The cemetery was in walking distance from the shop where Winry's grandmother lived, and before he knew it, Roy was standing over Ed's grave gripping a bottle of Jameson tightly.

"Ed…Ed I'm so fuckin' sorry…" He let his tears blind his vision. "I fucked everything up. I'm such a fuckin' bastard." Roy could barely talk straight. He stumbled around drunkenly, talking to no one.

"But you can't hear me anyway. There's no point is there? Why am I even here?" He took another swig of liquor, "Why am I the one who got left behind? Why wasn't I killed? Is this some kind of sick punishment?" He was shouting now. Shouting at the sky.

"DO YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY? HUH GOD? IS THIS SOME KIND OF FUCKIN' JOKE?" He threw down the bottle angrily and fell to his knees. "GIVE HIM BACK YOU BASTARD! GIVE HIM BACK TO ME! HAVEN'T YOU TAKEN ENOUGH FROM THOSE BROTHERS!?"

Roy's head was spinning, and he felt himself struggling to stay conscious.

"JUST GIVE ME ANOTHER CHANCE. PLEASE. PLEASE JUST…" he grabbed his hair and pulled it in anger, "JUST LET ME HAVE ANOTHER CHANCE TO FIX IT! YOU CAN'T TAKE HIM. YOU CAN'T."

Roy's vision was fading to black, and he felt himself fall over. Suddenly, he was falling. Falling fast. Falling into darkness.

" _Do not forget: humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return."_


	3. Chapter 3: Miracle

WHAT?! Another update so soon? Haha, don't get too used to it. I'm on break from school so I've been spending time writing and watching anime because I'm trash. My updates are going to be really spastic after January because I'll be student teaching (WHAT!?)! A few things before we get going with this chapter:

1\. Thanks for the reviews guys! I really appreciate them! One in particular I wanted to respond to and couldn't because you don't have an account on here, but "THETWENTYTHIRD15" thank you so much for the wonderfully long comment! I know that I don't update enough and I want to try to change that. Thanks for being a loyal reader, you're the best! If you want to talk more, send me an ask on my tumblr which can be found on my account here on fanfiction!

2\. THIS IS NOT AN AMNESIA STORY. Sorry guys. I had considered going that route but decided against it. Maybe one day I'll write a RoyEd amnesia story. Maybe one day.

3\. Before each chapter I'm putting lyrics from songs that are from my personal RoyEd playlist on my iTunes. If you want, listen to them while you read each chapter, it might establish the mood better! And then by the end there will be a whole playlist of songs to go along with this fic! Woooo!

Anyway, enjoy guys!

* * *

 _Well I look up to God_

 _But I see trouble_

' _Cause this ain't a miracle_

 _I just want to take my chance_

 _To live through a miracle_

 _-Biffy Clyro, "God and Satan"_

* * *

Chapter 3

Roy awoke with a start and was blinded by the bright sunlight that was shining in from his bedroom window. He was home in his bed. How did he get here? He figured that Hawkeye probably drove his drunken, delirious ass home last night after he passed out in the cemetery. He had the strangest dream…

He sighed heavily, stretched, and rolled away from the window and towards the middle of the bed. Roy became suddenly aware that something was out of place. Lying beside him in bed was another person. _How drunk was he? Did he bring someone home with him last night?_

The mystery person was covered almost completely by blankets, all except for a long lock of golden hair that was sprawled out on the pillowcase. Roy's heart froze. _It couldn't be._

Hands trembling, Roy grabbed the soft white blanket and pulled it back gently. He gasped loudly and his stomach did a somersault: lying beside him, sleeping soundly, was Edward Elric.

"Ed?" Roy said aloud, not hesitating to touch his lover's face. This had to be a dream. Ed's face scrunched up and he opened his eyes. The blonde furrowed his eye brows and shot Roy a concerned look.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" He asked, his tired voice was like music to Roy. "Was I snoring?"

Roy tried to find words to say but couldn't. Everything that he thought of got lost on the way to his lips. This was a dream. It had to be. Ed was dead, and it was his fault. He had watched Ed's body get lowered into the ground the night before. He knew that Ed was dead. The memory broke Roy's heart all over again and he felt his eyes start to burn.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa—" Ed sat up in alarm. "What's wrong? Wh-why are you crying? What happened?" He reached out and started to wipe the tears off of Roy's cheeks as they fell. "What's wrong?"

Roy shook his head and grabbed Ed's hands. They felt so real. This didn't feel like a dream at all. But it had to be…right?

"Roy…" Ed's voice was heavy with concern. "Did you have a nightmare?"

With a deep breath, Roy finally found the strength to speak again. "Ed… I'm sorry."

"For what? Roy you're scaring me…" Ed stared at Roy with a look of fear and confusion on his face. "You probably just had a nightmare. But it's over now; you're back to reality. It's okay."

Reality? Could this really be happening? But there was no way that everything that happened was a dream –it was way too real. Roy remembered praying every day that he would wake up from the nightmare that the last week was to him. It wasn't a dream. He knew that. But…this didn't feel entirely like a dream either. But it didn't matter. Roy knew that even if it was a dream, he couldn't waste his time with Ed by crying. He grabbed Ed's face and pulled his lover into a kiss.

A feeling of warmth washed over him as he felt his partner's hands grip his face. The feeling of kissing Ed was euphoric and he didn't want it to end. Roy kissed harder, silencing Ed's playful protests with more kisses. Their lips moved together in a harmonious dance, and before either of them knew it, Roy's hand was inside of Ed's boxers.

With every touch, Ed was moaning and grinding against Roy's torso. Every sound that Ed made turned Roy on. _God_ , Roy had really missed Ed. He missed the way that his lover tasted, the way he smelled, the way he moved. He missed the way that Ed arched his back when Roy touched him, he missed that way the Ed's hand felt on his body. He missed Ed's beautiful, broken body. He ran his hand along Ed's broken leg, taking in every single part of him. Every single thing about Ed turned Roy on.

Before Ed, Roy had a lot of sex with different people. But there was something so hot about having sex with Ed that Roy couldn't explain. Maybe it was because Roy had never met someone that he loved in the way that he loved Ed, or maybe it was because Roy had never felt so connected to anyone in the way that he was connected to Ed. They were on the same wavelength, the same level. And when they made love, it was like a chemical reaction. It was hot and messy and beautiful and cosmic.

Roy held Ed's naked body to his own and kissed the dip in Ed's neck passionately. He wanted to devour Ed, he wanted to take in all that Ed was and never be apart from him again. The ecstasy that washed over Roy as he thrusted himself into his lover was almost paralyzing. He wanted to get lost inside of him, he wanted to take this moment of pleasure and bottle it up forever. He came sooner than he wanted to, but Ed finished a few seconds later. Roy couldn't control himself. He couldn't breathe or think. They had just had sex but it felt like a strange out-of-body experience. Everything was jumbled and fast and messy. But he was happy, and for the first time in what felt like forever, he was at peace. Even if it was only for a moment.

"I don't know what's gotten into you, but I like it." Ed said with exasperated breath. "We haven't fucked like that in a long time."

Roy held Ed close and listened to the sound of his lover breathing. He was alive. He was alive, and breathing, and sexy, and perfect. How did this happen? How did he get to be so lucky? Was he given a second chance?

"What day is it?" Roy asked, reaching over to the bedside table to get his phone.

"What are you talking about? It's Sunday." Ed sat up and tied his long hair into a loose ponytail. "We wouldn't have been able to sleep in like this if it were any other day of the week."

Ed was right. Roy couldn't believe his eyes. According to his phone, it was Sunday, January 9th, which for Roy was _two weeks ago_. Had he really been given a second chance?

Ed scooted to the edge of the bed, and grabbed his prosthetic that was propped up against his nightstand. Roy watched as Ed carefully attached his leg and did a few stretches to make sure that it was on correctly.

"I want to take a shower, but I think I'm going to go get some breakfast first." Ed walked over to the dresser and pulled out a red hooded sweatshirt and some sweat pants. "Just the regular? Black coffee and a bagel?" He asked, pulling on the pants.

"Yeah, thanks." Roy said, still struggling to overcome the shock of the situation. "But I'm going to come with you." Roy got himself out of bed and walked over to his dresser.

"No, don't do that. There's no reason for you to come. I'm just going to Panera, it's literally right down the street. I'll be right back."

"I don't want you to go by yourself. I'll come with you." Roy pulled a white tee shirt over his head.

"Roy…" Roy could feel Ed staring at him from behind. "I've lived in New York City for almost 5 years. I can walk 2 blocks to Panera Bread. What's gotten into you? Just stay here."

Roy couldn't tell Ed that he didn't want him to go because he was too afraid of Ed being hit by a drunk driver and being killed. He would sound crazy and overprotective. Ed would probably make a joke that he'd already survived one car accident and that he would be fine.

"Alright, just be careful. The roads and sidewalks are icy."

"Okay, _mom_ , I'll be careful." Ed said teased. "Let me just brush me teeth before I go, I don't like having dick breath." Ed walked into the bedroom's bathroom.

Ed disappeared from view and Roy collapsed onto the bed. How could this be real? There was no way that what was happening could be real, there was no logical explanation. Roy considered the possibility that he was having a wild hallucination as a product of his grief, but ruled it out because the sex that he had just had was too real to be imaginary. Maybe...Ed dying was just a nightmare. A really long and really vivid nightmare.

"Uh, Roy…" Ed's voice called out from the bathroom.

"Yeah?"

"Why," Ed appeared in the doorway looking annoyed, "was my toothbrush hidden in the bottom drawer?"

Roy's heart shattered like glass. In Ed's hand was the red toothbrush the Roy had cried over the day of Ed's funeral. The one that he had hidden away in the bottom drawer.

"I don't know." Roy lied, "You just used it last night didn't you?"

Ed shifted his suspicious gaze from Roy to the toothbrush. "Yeah…" He said thoughtfully. "Weird…" He shrugged and went back into the bathroom.

 _Fuck._ So it wasn't a dream. But if time reset itself, why was the toothbrush in the bottom drawer? Unless…

It was a sign. It had to be a sign from God or whatever force had given him the second chance, letting him know that it wasn't a dream, that it was all real.

Roy walked with Ed to the door of the apartment, still in shock.

"Are you sure you're alright? You're acting really weird…" The younger man reached up on his tip-toes and placed a cold hand onto Roy's forehead. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine." Roy assured him, "Are you sure that you don't want me to come with you?"

"For the last time, I'll be fine. I'll be back in like 10 minutes."

"I'll see you when you get back." Roy bent down and kissed Ed softly. "I love you…"

"I love you too." Ed closed the door behind him and Roy finally let the panic set in. What the hell was going on? He was willing to accept that it had all been a nightmare. But then why was the toothbrush in the bottom drawer? He decided to go clear his thoughts in the shower, but when he turned around to head to the bathroom, he saw something that made him almost fall over in alarm.

Sitting at the kitchen table was Maes Hughes. _Who had been dead for 2 years_.

"Okay." Roy said aloud, "This confirms that I am definitely dreaming."

"You're not dreaming Roy, fortunately for you today's your lucky day." Hughes smiled at Roy from behind his thin rectangular glasses.

"You're…you're dead…" Roy replied, steadying himself on the kitchen counter.

"Yes, that's true." Hughes confirmed politely.

"Am…Am I dead?"

"No, you're very much alive."

"But…Ed…He's…He's dead…"

"Not quite."

Roy's head was spinning. Today was easily the strangest day of his life. First he wakes up with his dead fiancé alive and well beside him in bed, and now his dead best friend was talking to him like nothing was wrong.

"Oh come on Roy, stop making that face. Isn't this what you wanted? You asked for a second chance to make things right between you and Ed, didn't you?"

Roy stared at him, unable to say anything. Everything around him felt so surreal.

"We don't have a lot of time so I'm just going to explain, if that's okay with you."

"You're a ghost?" Roy blurted out, his brain trying desperately to figure out what was happening.

"I'd prefer to use the term angel, but if you want to be _technical_ , then I guess that yes I am a ghost…" Hughes answered, his voice annoyed.

"What's going on?" Roy asked, walking over to the table and sitting down.

"You asked for a second chance, and the big guy decided to give you one."

"The big guy?"

"Yeah, you know, the head honcho. The man upstairs. The almighty creator."

"God?" Asked Roy, astonished.

"Semantics." Said Hughes dismissively. "Anyway, you've been given a chance to make things right again. You've been given two weeks and I'm here as sort of…your guardian angel. I have to explain the rules, and make sure that everything works out the way that it's supposed to."

"What does that mean? There are rules?"

"Well, I guess that they're not rules exactly. More like… guidelines. Here are the basics: You were sent back to two weeks before the night of the accident. Both you and I know that the last time you went through these two weeks, you did some things that weren't exactly outstanding. Now you get to do those two weeks all over again. You can change anything you want, you can do anything you want differently, but you need to remember one thing: everything comes at a cost." Hughes' voice changed tones at the last sentence and he gave Roy a dark look, "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. There are certain things that have to happen in order to keep balance. There are certain things that you _can not change._ "

Roy stared at his friend in disbelief. None of this could possibly be true, and yet he couldn't deny that he knew that he wasn't dreaming. Two weeks. He had two weeks to fix things with Ed and stop the accident. This was his chance at salvation, a chance to save a life that was never supposed to end. But one thing still bothered him, one thing that tugged at his heart and made him feel sick.

"Why me?" Roy asked.

"Who knows? What is that people say all the time? 'The world works in mysterious ways'…"

Roy tried to continue the conversation, to ask why he of all people was allowed to re-do the last two weeks, why he was allowed a second chance, but before he could say another word, the apartment door opened and Ed came inside.

"Who were you talking to?" Ed asked.

Roy looked over in the direction where Hughes was, but he was gone.

"N-No one. Just thinking out loud."

"If you say so." Ed sat down across from Roy and passed him a paper cup filled with hot coffee. "Are you sure that you're okay?"

"I'm fine. I just missed you." Roy admitted, refusing to take his eyes off of his lover.

"I was only gone for 5 minutes." Ed mumbled, his face turning red.

"It felt like so much longer."


	4. Chapter 4: Encounter

**Hey guys! Another chapter, woo! So for the rest of this story, every other chapter is going to be a flashback chapter because there is more than one story to tell here. So this chapter is written in italics because it's a flashback. This is also why the story suddenly shifted from where we left off. Thanks for all of the follows and faves and reviews! Keep the reviews coming, they seriously motivate me to write more! Enjoy!**

* * *

 _So drown me and if you can_

 _Or we could just have conversation._

 _And I fall, I fall, I falter._

 _But I'll find you before you drift away._

 _Now you still speak of day old hate_

 _Though your whole world has gone up into flames._

 _And isn't it great to find that you're really worth nothing._

 _And how safe it is to feel safe._

 _-"Day Old Hate", City and Colour_

* * *

Chapter 4: 

_"Hey, we got a new guy today!" Jean Havoc was elated about the news, because it meant that for the first time in over a year of employment, people would call him "Jean" instead of "new guy"._

 _Roy Mustang looked down curiously at his sandy-haired co-worker and coughed as the stench of cigarette smoke filled his nostrils. "Could you not blow that shit in my face?" Roy complained, swatting the air with his hand._

 _"Ah, sorry boss!" Havoc took one last drag and tossed the butt of his cigarette to the ground._

 _Neither watched as the cigarette rolled behind them, crushed by the feet of the many other New Yorkers making their commute to work._

 _"A temp isn't a new guy, new guy." A smirk tugged at the corners of the older man's lips._

 _"No, not a temp. A new engineer. Apparently some kid - a prodigy or something."_

 _"Pfft yeah okay." Roy snorted, "as the head engineer you'd think that I would know if we were getting a new guy. Especially if that new guy was a kid."_

 _"I'm not joking! He's like 17 or something like that, just graduated from MIT. A real Einstein." Havoc gave Roy one of his signature crooked-smiles as they entered their office building. "What're you playing dumb for? Afraid he'll steal all of the ladies?"_

 _"I'm not playing dumb, there is no new guy. Trust me, I'd know." Roy was starting to get agitated. There was no way that corporate would hire someone new - an engineer for that matter - without giving him some sort of heads up._

 _"Maybe," their conversation was interrupted by the familiar sound of the annoyed voice of Roy's personal assistant Riza Hawkeye. "You'd know about the new employee if you actually read your emails." She pressed the button on the elevator and sighed heavily. "I swear Roy, you wouldn't survive without me."_

 _"So there IS a new guy!" Havoc nearly jumped in his excitement. "And he's a kid, right?"_

 _"There's no way that they'd hire a kid." Roy said stubbornly, refusing to let being wrong get to him too much._

 _"He'll be 18 in February, so he's almost legally an adult."_

 _"You're kidding." Roy was embarrassed, which wasn't something that he was used to. A kid? Working here? As an engineer? This had to be a joke._

 _"I'm not kidding. And he'll probably be working by your side. So make sure to play nice." Hawkeye shot Roy one of her signature "you'd better behave" looks and stepped into the open elevator doors. "He may be a kid, but don't underestimate him."_

 _The three of them walked into the familiar office area of the firm and immediately noticed the crowd of people surrounding the conference room table. They decided to see what the fuss was about (though they already assumed) and discovered a very annoyed looking boy sitting at the table, being bombarded with questions._

 _"So you're really 17?"_

 _"You graduated from MIT? Are you like a prodigy or something?"_

 _"Are you even legally allowed to work here?"_

 _"Do you have a girlfriend?"_

 _Roy examined the new office prey carefully. He was young, there was no doubt about that. But there was something about his stature that told Roy that this boy had seen and been through more than most full-grown adults. The kid was sitting at the table with slouched shoulders, surveying the crowd with narrowed eyes through a curtain of straight blonde hair. He was dressed in a red zip-up hoodie and a black shirt - Roy noted in his head that this new guy was definitely underdressed for work. Was this his first job?_

 _Roy turned to Havoc who was also carefully evaluating the new guy. "When I heard he was young I didn't think he'd be so..." Roy hesitated, craning his neck to get a better look before he said something wrong again, "small."_

 _As though he had some sort of selective super-human hearing, the new guy's face shot dramatically in Roy's direction. The term "shooting daggers" was too kind a phrase for the look that the blonde teen was giving his superior. It was a look of complete and utter loathing._

 _"We haven't even met and you think that it's okay to call me a half-pint pipsqueak midget?" The new guy was nearly shouting, and everyone quickly looked over at Roy._

 _"You think that I'm so small that I can't even reach the bathroom sink without a step stool?!" The boy continued to shout, and his temper was visibly rising._

 _"I didn't say any of that!" Roy shouted back. He was sure that he wasn't going to like this brat at all._

 _"Oooh, the new guy's feisty!" One of the voices in the crowd called out and started a chain of light-hearted laughter. The only two who weren't laughing were Roy and the new kid._

 _"Now, now. Settle down." The tone in the room changed almost immediately as the president of the company entered the room with a smile that never failed to make the entire room uncomfortable. "I see that you've all met our newest engineer. I had a feeling that he would cause some excitement. It's not every day that we get a person like Mr. Elric in a place like this."_

 _Everyone quieted down and moved out of President Bradley's way as he made his way over to the teen. "Why don't you go on and introduce yourself to everyone Mr. Elric." The president put his hand onto the blonde's shoulder._

 _The teen nodded and stood up. Now that he was standing Roy had a very good view of just how short this kid was - and that was **extremely** short. Roy was only able to hold back his laughter through a powerful force of will._

 _"Hi, my name is Edward Elric, but I'd prefer it if you all called me Ed." He spoke professionally, smoothly, and with confidence. His demeanor had completely changed from the outburst that everyone had seen just minutes ago._

 _"I am 17 years old and I just finished school at MIT. I know that I look like a kid, but I would like to ask that you all please treat me with the same respect that you'd treat a fellow adult with."_

 _"He technically outranks most of you anyway." The president interrupted cheerfully._

 _"Most of us." Roy growled under his breath. Once again, Ed shot a nasty look in Roy's direction._

 _"I look forward to working with you." Ed finished his introduction and smiled as the crowd responded with a polite applause._

 _"Oh! But you forgot to mention if you have a girlfriend!" A girl's voice called out from the back of the crowd and made Ed's face flush. The girls in the crowd giggled._

 _"No." Ed said flatly, "I don't have a girlfriend."_

 _After a few "ooh"s, President Bradley asked everyone to get started on their day's work, but asked Roy to stay behind with him and Ed._

 _The crowd fizzled out of the room slowly, and Roy waited impatiently to find out what the president wanted with him. Today hadn't been off to a very good start and Roy was in an unusually sour mood._

 _"Edward Elric, I'd like you to meet someone very important." The president clapped Ed on the shoulder and steered him over to Roy. Both men met each other with looks of dislike._

 _"This is Roy Mustang. He's the head engineer here and he'll help you and work with you on all of your projects. Roy, this is Ed, and he's a very valuable new asset to the team. I hope that you two can learn to become good friends." Bradley smiled at both of them and let out a relaxed sigh. "It sure is nice to have such a great staff." And without another word, he turned and left the two men standing alone in the conference room._

 _Roy tried to make eye contact with Ed, but the younger man refused. Ed was determined to look everywhere else in the room except for in Roy's direction. Was all of this really because of one accidental short joke? As much as it annoyed Roy to give into the spoiled brat's tantrum, he knew that if they were going to work together they needed to get along. So, he swallowed his pride._

 _"Hey, look, I think that we got off on the wrong foot here. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings when I was mocking your height to Havoc-"_

 _"Save it. What kind of guy blatantly makes fun of someone that they've never even met? So what if I'm not a freaking giant like everyone else in this damn city! It doesn't make me any less of a man, and it sure as hell doesn't make me any less of a genius."_

 _Roy was dumbfounded. What. A. Little. Prick. This kid was unreal._

 _"You need to get off of that high horse. I don't care where you went to school or who your parents are or any of that! Let me make something clear: when you work under me, you follow my rules, understand?" It had been a while since Roy had pulled out his "I'm your superior officer" routine, but this kid was really asking for it._

 _"I know your type Mustang. You think that you can push people around that are smaller than you!"_

 _"Well in this case it's true literally and metaphorically!"_

 _That did it. Roy saw the fire in Ed's eyes ignite for the first time, as the teen's golden eyes narrowed in careful hatred._

 _Ed didn't say another word. He left the conference room and was directed to a desk by Hawkeye. Every moment between Ed and Roy that followed was filled with unexplainable tension. It became sort of joke through the office - every time someone saw one of them coming they'd get excited for the outburst that would inevitably happen. Roy word make a joke about how Ed was too small to see, would replace Ed's lab goggles with children's lab goggles, all of that jazz. And Ed would turn red and in the face and shout at Roy and throw things that would just barely miss giving Roy a black eye. It was comical. And yet at the same time; it was chemical._

 _While it was undeniable that the two men hated each other more than anything, on a professional level they seemed to work extremely well together. They were both scientific geniuses - and even though brilliant ideas were often greeted with "wow nice idea for once asshole", the ideas were flowing in non-stop. For the first 3 months of Ed's employment at the company, Roy and Ed had managed to engineer technology that completely changed the company. Though, they never learned anything about one another, other than the fact that the other was a genius. They had seemed to develop a mutual respect for each other, while still also maintaining a mutual hatred. No, it wasn't until 3 months after Ed started his job that he and Roy made even the slightest effort to cross personal boundaries._

 _It was February 4th, a day that normally wouldn't have meant anything to anyone working at the company. But this particular February 4th was important because it was the day that Edward Elric was turning 18. This meant that he would finally be legally allowed to go on business trips; this meant that he would finally, legally, be an adult. For the firm, this was great because it opened up a lot more business opportunities. For Ed, it was even better because although he would never say it to anyone, the best part of turning 18 was finally being able to drop the label that had been stuck on his back since the moment he graduated high school: prodigy._

 _To celebrate, the entire floor was organizing a party. Ed tried to protest but he gave up about an hour into the day. There was no use in trying to argue._

 _"So," Maria Ross was hanging a banner in the break room where Roy and Ed were sitting and drinking coffee. "Are we finally going to meet that mystery brother of yours, Ed?"_

 _Ed looked up to answer, but before he could say anything Roy asked: "You have a brother, Fullmetal?"_

 _"Fullmetal" was the nickname that Ed had earned after working on his first project with the company. Each engineer got a nickname; it was their cute way of initiating new engineers into their group. Roy was called Flame because of how well he worked with fire and heat. Ed was called "Fullmetal" because the first project that he worked on with Roy was making a metal coffee cup that could hold hot liquids without burning the consumer's hand. Ed was extremely good at working with metal and the project was successful, and so the project earned him the nickname "Fullmetal"._

 _Ed sighed in annoyance. "Yeah, I have a brother. And his name is Al. If you bothered to talk to me about my life once in awhile you'd know that."_

 _"Yeah, it's surprising that I didn't know that. I mean, you're my best friend." Roy's deadpan was polished, that was for sure. Sometimes when he said things it was hard to tell if he was serious or joking. Obviously this was his idea of a joke._

 _Using his better judgment, Ed directed his next comment back towards Ross: "Yeah Al's coming. And he's bringing my good friend Winry with him too."_

 _"Oooh!" Ross teased playfully, "is that your girlfriend?"_

 _Ed's face turned beet-red. "I don't have a girlfriend!"_

 _"Haha, I know, I know. You've said it a hundred times. I just like seeing your reaction!" Ross let out a playful giggle. "I'm excited to meet your brother though, you never stop talking about him!"_

 _"He's really excited to meet all of you guys too, I tell him all about work when I'm home."_

 _How could Roy have worked with Ed for 3 months and never learned about Ed's brother? Were they really that distant? He knew that they didn't like each other but they were partners and they worked together for nearly 8 hours every day. Why hadn't Roy ever heard about Ed's brother?_

 _Roy realized that he was putting way too much effort into thinking about something that he didn't care about and decided to leave the break room._

 _The party began and everyone seemed to be having a great time. Ed's brother arrived and Roy was pleasantly surprised to see that Alphonse Elric was completely different from Edward in almost every way. They looked alike, but only ever so slightly. Al's hair was a sandier blonde than Ed's, and instead of golden eyes Al's were hazel. Al didn't have Ed's brash personality either; he was much kinder and more soft-spoken._

 _"I'm graduating high school a year early," he explained to a group of people who asked him whether or not he had inherited the Elric family genius. "I'm not as smart as my big brother though. He graduated high school when he was 14."_

 _"Are you going to go to college at MIT too?" Ross asked politely._

 _"I don't think so," Al laughed, "I really love science just like my brother, but I think I'm going to take my love for science into the medical field. I want to be a doctor. I'm looking at a few different schools, but I'll probably end up staying in the city. I don't like to be far away from Ed, he gets himself into too much trouble."_

 _"Who's the older one again?" Ross teased, the group laughing along._

 _The party was fun. Honestly, it was. But Roy didn't like being in crowded places. Before long, Roy felt claustrophobic and needed to get away from the shouting and the music._

 _The cool February air was a refreshing change from the suffocating and crowded atmosphere of the office. There was a place that Roy liked to escape to when things at work became too overwhelming - it was like a sort of an oasis that allowed him to get away from all of the intensity of his job. Sure, it wasn't much of an oasis, but it was special to him. He had discovered it on a particularly bad day at work; everything that could possibly go wrong had gone wrong and he came incredibly close to losing it in front of the entire office. He felt suffocated and needed to get away so he tried to find an empty room where he could go to compose his thoughts. He went through doorway after doorway, up flights of stairs, down hallways, until he reached one door and discovered that it led to a tiny patch of roof access that was separate from the official roof access. What started off as a one time need to blow off steam had evolved into a weekly routine. Any time that Roy was stuck on a project or needed to think or wanted to enjoy his lunch without hearing about how Havoc has struck out with yet another girl, he could just go there and sit. It was small, but it was nice. It was his._

 _He sat down on the concrete and let out a very heavy sigh. God, he needed a vacation._

 _"What do you mean you aren't coming?"_

 _Roy jumped in alarm at the sound of a familiar voice coming from behind the door to the building. Was that Ed? What the hell was he doing here?_

 _"But you said that you'd come! It's my birthday and- I know that. I know but you said-" The teen's voice was full of anger and frustration. "Because I'm your boyfriend that's why! ...no. No. I don't- you always do this! You get my hopes up and then...yeah...yeah I love you but...yeah... Okay. Fine... Okay. I'll see you later." The building door opened and Ed appeared in the doorway, looking down at the phone in his hand. His eyes were red and puffy._

 _"Didn't expect to see you here." Roy could tell that Ed was upset, and decided not to tease him about the obvious crying._

 _Ed gasped at the sound of Roy's voice and looked up from his phone. His sad eyes turned immediately angry. "What are you doing here?" He snapped, shoving his phone into his pocket._

 _"I was going to ask you the same question."_

 _"I come up here when I want to be alone sometimes. I didn't think that anyone else knew about it." Ed's expression softened and he walked cautiously over to where Roy was sitting._

 _Roy couldn't help but laugh. How many times had they just barely missed one another on their trips to this spot? They are probably the only two people in the whole building who knew about it._

 _"Hate to break it to you kid, but I've been coming here for about 3 years when I get overwhelmed. This is my secret spot."_

 _Ed cracked one of his signature cocky smiles. "Are you saying that Roy Mustang gets overwhelmed?"_

 _"Oh stop acting so innocent." Roy teased as Ed sat down next to him, "I never took Edward Elric for a liar."_

 _"What? What're you talking about?"_

 _"I wasn't eavesdropping or anything but you aren't exact quiet. I heard you on the phone. I thought that you said that you didn't have a girlfriend."_

 _Ed looked away from Roy and out towards the city. "I don't."_

 _"But I just heard you tell Ross earlier that you're single!"_

 _"I never said that I was single."_

 _"But you said that you don't have a girlfriend..."_

 _"Yeah, I don't have a girlfriend." Ed was talking as though Roy was missing something incredibly obvious._

 _And then he got it._

 _"Oh." Said Roy._

 _"Yeah." Said Ed, "Oh."_

 _There was an uncomfortable silence. Roy and Ed had never actually spoken before as human beings, and now Ed was coming out to Roy before anyone else in the office. Maybe they didn't hate each other as much as they thought?_

 _"What's uh," Roy broke the silence, "what's his name?"_

 _"Ling." Ed said quietly, looking out at the city skyline._

 _"How long have you guys been together?"_

 _"About 2 years. He's my age, but he only just started college like a normal 18 year old. He goes to NYU."_

 _Ed was really opening up, which was extremely strange for Roy. He must have been pretty upset about the phone call. It was the only thing that would explain why Ed wasn't trying to kill Roy for asking personal questions._

 _"What about you?" Ed suddenly looked up at Roy. "Are you dating anyone?"_

 _Roy laughed. "I haven't dated anyone seriously in years. I hook up with a lot of girls, but I'm never serious about any of them and they're never serious about me." He shrugged, "I guess I just haven't found the right girl."_

 _"I'm sure you will. Even bastards like you deserve to be happy." Ed looked over at Roy with his fiery golden eyes and for the first time since they'd met, Ed smiled at him. Well, it was more of a smirk. But Roy was satisfied._

 _"Don't think this means that we're friends, Elric." Roy scoffed, returning Ed's smirk with one of his own._

 _"Like I'd ever be friends with you."_


End file.
